K'taka: JD(S) ratifies Gowda's 'suspension'

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 23: The National Council of the Janata Dal (Secular), convened by the anti-Deve Gowda faction, here today endorsed the party executive's decision to suspend the former Prime Minister from the primary membership of the party for six years and appoint veteran socialist Surendra Mohan as the national president.

The meeting, being attended by leaders including Mr M P Veerendrakumar and former Karnataka Minister P G R Sindhia, also ratified the decision of the executive to dissolve the Karnataka unit of the party and suspend Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and 39 MLAs from the primary membership of the party.

The meeting also nullified all the decisions taken by Mr Gowda after he ''sacrificied the basic principles of secularism.'' With this development, the split in the JD(S) was almost formalised.

The Deve Gowda faction, which described the meeting as ''illegal and unconstitutional'', has convened the national concil meeting in New Delhi on December 25.